Highlights of the Heavy Music Awards 2017 are to premiere on Scuzz TV (Sky 367) on Saturday (September 16) at 9pm.

It will be repeated on Sunday, September 17, at 10pm.

The show will feature performances from headline act Creeper, Venom Prison, Vukovi and Dead! as well as appearances from the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Daniel P Carter and HMA winners Architects, Enter Shikari and Download Festival’s Andy Copping.

One of the on-stage features of HMA17 – which was sponsored by EMP – was the voiceover work of former BBC radio presenter Clare Reeves.

Clare’s dulcet tones announced each of the finalists at House of Vans London on August 24.

These top quality projects have been sent around the world to clients including Trivago, BMW, Deloitte, BBC, National Geographic, Hilary’s Blinds, Abu Dhabi Government and Unilever.

Clare is a BBC-trained radio presenter/audio engineer and an actor, passionate communicator and beachcomber.

The HMA team caught up with Clare to talk more about her fascinating work and mission to “bring your words to life”.

Q. Tell us about Clare Reeves and the work you do as a voice over artist (VOA)?

I’m Clare and I’m a Voiceover Artist. The wonderful thing about my work is the wide variety of projects and clients. My work includes voicing TV and Radio Commercials, TV documentary narration, Corporate productions of all kinds – from promotional videos, explainer videos for websites, phone answering systems, event announcements, exhibition stands to elearning! Then some days I work on museum soundscapes and audio guides and jingles for DJs / Podcasters.. I’ve even leant my voice to a dance music track and I’ve got an Art Installation coming up soon!

Q. What type of businesses do you work for?

All sorts, from global brands such as Unilever, BMW, Deloitte and Fox International Channels to UK based businesses, the NHS, charities and startups. I believe every business has a story to tell and a brand they treasure – using a professional voice is the best way to sound as good as you look.. businesses pay so much attention to their logo without sometimes thinking about what voice is on their answering system.. I think that is beginning to change and people are more aware of the power of a pro voice in an increasingly competitive world.

Q. You are one of the region’s leading VOA. How did you get into that industry?

I worked in the BBC for many years both sides of the microphone, as a radio presenter and also as a sound engineer at the BBC World Service. I used to direct the BBC’s TV Channels live on air and I’m a confirmed broadcast technology geek! I’m a total telly addict. I also have a background in acting with some theatre training. All of these things really came together for me after I had my son.. I wanted to build my own career, do something I loved that I could grow over the years. Voiceover isn’t just talking, it’s a hugely complex set of skills that all have to come together at a given moment to create the right thing. Some clients like to direct – others like me to direct myself. It’s about bringing words to life and giving them meaning as you lift them off the page. I train hard with a coach in LA and one in the UK as well. It’s vital to push yourself, to keep on top of current Voiceover trends (yes, there are trends) as it’s a very competitive business.

Q. How has being a VOA changed over the years, in terms of producing recordings and using technology?

Technology is ESSENTIAL for Voiceover Actors. I record most of my work from my own studio, at home, into Adobe Audition on my Mac – I edit and mix in the digital world and send finished files digitally as well. Clients also like to direct me live sometimes over Skype.. it’s all very current. It’s changed hugely since the days of having to go into a studio to be recorded on tape. Also in terms of how I find work and how work finds me.

Q. Tell us how, as a VOA, you use the Internet to connect with the public?

Most of my work finds me via the internet as well, and I use online marketing and social media a great deal too. I’m a little obsessed with Twitter.. it’s great for collecting contacts as well as keeping a profile amongst the public and clients. I endeavour to keep my website up to date with showreels and videos and news of what I’m up to. One aspect of the technology that can be overlooked is how wonderful it is to keep connected. As I say, I work largely on my own – it could be very isolating – but thankfully I have a fantastic network of friends in the business and we chat daily online, share stories and wisdom etc. It’s a bit like being in an office – well, the good bits!

Q. How can using a VOA enhance an event?

Events are exciting, they are an occasion. I think that participants and guests want to feel special at an event. By using a pro Voiceover to make announcements (we call it being “Voice of God” in the VO biz!) I think you are saying “we are serious, we are professional, we respect you and want you to feel special, this matters”. It also means that the brand holding the event looks good.. you don’t notice a great voice necessarily – you notice a great event and how you felt.

Q. If a business wants to use your services, what is the best way of connecting with you?

Pop over to my website clarereevesvoiceovers.com and send me a note via my contact form – I’m always happy to chat through what you think you need, provide a free sample and quote for you. Even if you have never worked with a voiceover before, I make things easy and help you out every step of the way.

Heavy Music Awards 2017 – with headline sponsor EMP – was presented by Kerrang Radio’s Alex Baker and Sophie K at House of Vans London.

Around the Awards horror-punk favourites Creeper headlined the live performances, supported by Venom Prison, Vukovi and Dead!

Fans of rock and metal chose Gojira to win Best International Band and Download Festival’s Andy Copping presented Best Live Band to Enter Shikari at the star-studded invitation-only event.

Best Breakthrough Band was won by US metalcore act I Prevail.

Live Nation’s Andy Copping had hit the stage earlier after it was revealed that the fan’s favourite in the Best Festival category was Download, while O2 Academy Brixton walked away with the 4.3kg metallic statue for Best Venue.

On an emotional night which celebrated the best talent on and off the stage across Heavy Music, respected photographer Ashley Maile was posthumously presented The H – a special recognition award presented for outstanding positive contribution to the heavy music scene.

Mr Maile – who photographed major rock stars including Slash, Ozzy Osbourne and James Hetfield – passed away in 2013 following a battle with cancer, aged 36.

Flying in from Sweden Henrik Udd collected Best Producer for his collaborations with Fredrick Nordstrom and Olympus presented the Best Photographer award to Ben Gibson.

The cover of the Ghost album Popestar – by Zbigniew M Bielak – won the public vote in the Best Album Artwork category.

Special live recordings of Black Sabbath and Slipknot which have never been seen before in public are to be screened at the Heavy Music Awards 2017.

A total of six songs taken from Black Sabbath’s The End tour and Slipknot’s Knotfest Mexico will be shown at the House of Vans cinema at HMA17 on August 24.

Slipknot’s clips are part of a new 90 minute documentary about the band entitled Day Of The Gusano which is to be premiered in more than a thousand screens across the world as a ‘one night only’ cinematic spectacle on September 6, 2017.

Talking about the film, Slipknot’s M.Shawn Crahan, aka ‘Clown’, said: “Slipknot still has dreams for itself. Finally playing Mexico was one of them. It’s been a surreal life of rock and roll for Slipknot and the fact that the dreams still go on for us is simply incredible. Thank you.”

Black Sabbath’s End Of The End – from which the excerpts are to be shown at the HMAs – brings fans up close and personal with the story of the final, emotionally-charged concert, in which the band perform hits including Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs and many more. The film also joins Sabbath in the studio as they deliver unique and exclusive performances of some of their favourite songs not played on the tour, and catch an intimate glimpse into the band’s world; the music, relationships and banter, alongside personal anecdotes.

Speaking about the film Ozzy Osborne said: “What a journey we’ve all had. It’s fucking amazing”. This is the final word from the greatest heavy metal band of all time.”

End Of The End is to be shown for one night only in mrs than 1,500 cinemas worldwide on September 28, 2017.

Both films will be released in other formats at a later date and are distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment.

With the public voting now closed for the Heavy Music Awards 2017, and in the run up to the event on August 24 at House of Vans London, we are revealing the longlists of our categories, as nominated by our judging panel of over 300 industry experts.

For the Best Breakthrough Band category – presented by House of Vans London – we received almost 200 nominations – with the criteria stating that an artist must have released their first official single, EP or album in 2016.

With so many nominations, we have decided to break down the list into three segments. Below you’ll find the final part of the list, covering O through Z.

Creeper will headline the Heavy Music Awards 2017 at House of Vans London.

Fresh from playing the Vans Warped Tour in the United States, the horror-punk six-piece – who’s debut album ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ hit the UK’s top 20 earlier this year – will lead the line-up on August 24 at the inaugural HMAs.

In addition to performing, Creeper are finalists in the Best UK Band category – presented by Uprawr – and the result of the public vote will be announced on the night.

Speaking on playing the HMAs, the south coast sextet said in a statement: “We are excited to perform at the Heavy Music Awards.

“We believe that the initiative to create an impartial awards celebration – which truly sees peers and contemporaries from the alternative world nominating and voting for the best heavy music out there today – is very important.

“It’s an honour to be nominated for an HMA, and to play at the ceremony.”

Vukovi

Opening the main stage will be fast-rising Scottish rockers Vukovi, who head to Reading and Leeds Festival the following day.

Vocalist Janine Shilstone told the HMAs, “[It’s the] first ever awards show the band have been invited to – and to top to it off the HMA gods wants us to perform. Double whammy.”

Dead!

Special guests Dead! – nominees in the Best Breakthrough Band category, presented by House of Vans London – will get the HMAs warmed up with a performance on the venue’s second stage.

A very special guest will be announced shortly as main support on the main stage.

Access to the event is by invitation only, but there are a handful of tickets left to win – keep an eye out for a special competition very shortly.

With the public voting now closed for the Heavy Music Awards 2017, and in the run up to the event on August 24 at House of Vans London, we are revealing the longlists of our categories, as nominated by our judging panel of over 300 industry experts.

For the Best Breakthrough Band category – presented by House of Vans London – we received almost 200 nominations – with the criteria stating that an artist must have released their first official single, EP or album in 2016.

With so many nominations, we have decided to break down the list into three segments. Below you’ll find the second part of the list, covering E through N.

With the public voting now closed for the Heavy Music Awards 2017, and in the run up to the event on August 24 at House of Vans London, we are revealing the longlists of our categories, as nominated by our judging panel of over 300 industry experts.

For the Best Breakthrough Band category – presented by House of Vans London – we received almost 200 nominations – with the criteria stating that an artist must have released their first official single, EP or album in 2016.

With so many nominations, we have decided to break down the list into three segments. Below you’ll find the first part of the list, covering A through D.

Heavy Music Awards is proud to support Safe Gigs for Women, an initiative set-up by volunteers with the aim of creating a safer environment for women at live music events.

We caught up recently with co-founder of Safe Gigs for Women, Tracey, to chat through everything from the power of Twitter to their admiration for Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes.

HMAs: Whilst your work within the music field is largely recognised, for those that may not know, what is the message that Safe Gigs for Women is sending to the public?

Tracey: That live music is a community, festivals are a community. The force of music that we love should transcend something so base. We need to own our music scenes – venues, festivals, promoters, bands and music fans to proactively take on the issue of sexual harassment and assault in live music.

HMAs: Social media has enabled you to connect to people all over the world and create a community that promotes and shares the ethos of Safe Gigs for Women, but do you feel that the attitudes on social media are always beneficial to the cause?

Tracey: Social media is a massively interesting, but sometimes controversial tool. It has contributed to how we work, in that bands and artists have never been as easily accessible as they are today, so in sharing experiences with bands, and with women being able to share their experiences with us, it’s fantastically useful.

HMAs: Do you think that the behaviour at festivals and concerts is worse now than they were in the past, or have we just become more aware and outspoken on the matter?

Tracey: I’m don’t think that this behaviour is new, or necessarily worse that it has ever been. What has changed though is that there are more opportunities to go to gigs and festivals than ever before, and a change in audiences too. Once upon a time, gigs and festivals, festivals in particular, were an outsider thing. Now they are an event, a thing to do. Which , so with more people attending festivals than before, we now have more people talking about these issues.

HMAs: In response to the recent incidents at the Swedish music festival Bravalla and its subsequent cancellation in 2018, do you feel those in charge of these large events are taking sexual assault more seriously?

Tracey: I think Bravalla will be a turning point. I hope that we will see many live events thinking what they can do to prevent things getting that way here. Large events should be considering the impact of the fall out from Bravalla, in terms of bad publicity, impact on attendance and think about the possible impact on their events. Take proactive measures now, talk to organisations like us that love music and want to see live music flourish, but in an environment safe for all.

HMAs: How do you think that partnerships with music events such as The Heavy Music Awards will help promote your message to the music industry and fans?

Tracey: It says the industry is beginning to see that action is needed. Woman are potentially 51 per cent of your audience – take us seriously and make our role in music matter.

HMAs: A growing amount of musicians have become involved with the fight for safer environments for women, do you think that being involved with The Heavy Music Awards will help increase this as new audiences are being reached?

Tracey: Any time we have engagement with bands, we have a huge step up in followers. And this is why it is crucial that we have bands involved in supporting this cause. After the assault that happened to me that led to the creation of Safe Gigs for Women, one of the things that really stuck with me was that the band that I had gone to see would in no way of condoned what happened to me – anyone familiar with that band’s history would know that. If bands don’t want this behaviour in their moshpit – speak up, be proactive!

HMAs: You are heavily involved in the music scene and have been lifelong music fans, is there anyone that you are hoping will do particularly well at The Heavy Music Awards this year?

Tracey: 2000 Trees, for sure. Such an amazing, fan led festival who we were working with this summer, and it’s fantastic to work with a festival wanting to take a proactive stance against sexual assault. It’s amazing to see a festival where the division between “artiste” and festival goers is almost non existent, where you see bands watching other bands, milling around the campsites, crowd surfing to acoustic sets.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes for Best UK Band and Best Live Band makes perfect sense to us. One of our team is still recovering from seeing him at 2000 Trees. And his work on gig safety whilst still having a completely involved crowd, with pits and crowd surfing makes for one hell of a gig.

And being London based and spending a lot of time in Camden, the inclusion of the Black Heart is great to see. It’s a fantastic venue for promoting music as a community. And this is exactly what we want to see, a greater discussion of music as community, and that we maintain and look after that community.

HMAs: You say that your aims are to reach fans, bands and venues and that change cannot be achieved without all three of these groups involved, how can each of these get in contact with you and help the cause more?

Tracey: They are the three vital components to gigs, one cannot exist without the other. They have to come together to work to stop sexual harassment and assault. You can find us online at www.sgfw.org.uk, and on Facebook and Twitter to find out more about where we are and how to contact us.

As the inaugural Heavy Music Awards approach, we decided to grab a moment at House of Vans London with Lewis Felstead from Uprawr – sponsor of our Best UK Band category, host of our official afterparty and big fans of Cloven Hoof Rum at 11.30am on a Wednesday.

@heavymusicawards

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